3 Classic Thanksgiving Recipes Your Guests Will Love

If you don't have an age-old family recipe for the Thanksgiving trifecta—turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce—or you're determined to cook up something different this year, Pamela Salzman's trio could be the delicious new direction you're looking for.

The LA-based cooking instructor has amassed something of a cult following (her classes often have lengthy wait lists) so we knew she'd be the perfect person to school us on all things Thanksgiving. If you love her recipes, check out her über popular cookbook Kitchen Mattershere.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.2. Place bread in a food processor and process into large crumbs or cut into ½-inch dice. (I like to do a combination.) You should have 12 cups. Spread bread over 2 large shallow baking pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through baking, until completely dry, about 25 minutes. Transfer bread to a large bowl.3. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees and grease a 13x9-inch baking dish with olive oil.4. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage meat and sauté, breaking up meat into small bits, until browned and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.5. To the same pan melt 1 Tablespoon of butter and add celery, fennel, onion, and apple, and sauté, stirring occasionally until onions are tender and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add white wine and deglaze pan by scraping the bottom with a wooden utensil. Cook until wine has evaporated.6. Stir in thyme, sage, salt and pepper.7. Add vegetable mixture and reserved sausage to bread cubes, tossing to combine.8. Pour chicken broth over the bread mixture, tossing to coat evenly.9. Spread stuffing in a baking dish, dot with remaining butter and cover tightly with foil. Bake in upper third of oven until heated through, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake stuffing until top is browned, 10–15 minutes more. Stuffing can also be baked in a well-greased 12-cup muffin tin. Bread crumbs can be prepared several days in advance. Vegetables can be chopped the day before. Entire casserole can be prepared up to the point of baking the day before and refrigerated or frozen and then thawed and baked according to the directions.

1. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar or sucanat and apple juice and bring to a boil. Add cranberries, cover and boil until berries pop, about 5-8 minutes.2. Add raspberries and stir. 3. Add apples and cook 1 minute.4. Add chopped nuts if desired. 5. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

*This will thicken as it cools. **Good idea to make this the Sunday before Thanksgiving!

1. I like to brine the turkey for about 18-24 hours. You can brine it, remove it from the brine and then store it in the refrigerator for a day until you are ready to cook it. To make the brine: Dissolve the salt and maple syrup in the hot water. Take the orange slices and carefully squeeze them into the mixture. Add the lemon, peppercorns and allspice berries.2. Place the brining bag in a large stockpot. Add the cold water to the bringing bag and then the warm mixture. Place the turkey in the brine breast-side down and make sure the whole bird is covered with liquid. Seal the bag securely and place pot in the refrigerator for 12-18 hours. 3. Remove the bird from the brine and rinse with cold water. Pat dry. Refrigerate until ready to cook or proceed with recipe. 4. The day of roasting, take turkey out of refrigerator and wipe dry with paper towels. Bring to room temperature, about 60-90 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Position a rack in the lowest rung of the oven. Oil a V-shaped rack in a roasting pan. 5. Sprinkle a little freshly ground black pepper in the cavity and then add in the onion, herbs, and apple. Truss the turkey by tying the legs together. Brush the skin all over with some of the butter or oil. 6. Place the turkey on the rack in the pan, breast-side down and pull the wings behind the back. Roast for 40 minutes, basting with butter or oil after 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees, turn breast side up (I usually wear clean rubber gloves to do this) and add 1 cup stock or water to the roasting pan. Continue to roast, basting with the remaining butter or oil until used up and then with the pan juices every 20 minutes. Add additional stock to the roasting pan if you notice there are no pan juices with which to baste the turkey.7. Roast until golden and cooked through. After about 2 hours, start testing for doneness by inserting an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the breast away from the bone; it should register 165-170 degrees. You may also test the thigh– it should read 180 degrees. The turkey should roast a total of about 2 ¾ hours, but it can range from about 2 ½ - 3 hours or 12-14 minutes/pound. 8. Transfer to a cutting board or warmed platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil until ready to carve, at least 20 minutes (I prefer longer.) Use the pan juices to make gravy.

Prepare the gravy:

1. Pour all the pan juices, including the fat into a fat separator. Allow the fat to separate from the juices. 2. Heat the roasting pan over medium heat on the stove and add the pan juices, leaving the fat in the fat separator. Add the wine to the roasting pan. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to dislodge any brown bits that stick to the bottom of the pan. Strain into a bowl or you can use the gravy separator again or wait until Step 4 and strain into the gravy saucepan.3. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the reserved fat from the gravy separator until it is bubbly. You should have at least 3-4 Tablespoons. If you don’t, add some olive oil. Add the flour and whisk rapidly to cook the flour, about 2-3 minutes. 4. Whisk in the strained pan juices and 3 cups of stock to the saucepan until smooth. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm on lowest heat. Add additional stock as needed to achieve desired consistency.